


The Woman at the Jeffersonian

by ailes_de_cire



Category: Bones (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Jeffersonian, Magic, Murder Mystery, Past Character Death, Science, Season/Series 01, Statute of Secrecy, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-27
Updated: 2013-03-27
Packaged: 2017-12-06 16:36:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/737820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ailes_de_cire/pseuds/ailes_de_cire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A routine identification of an archived skeleton turns complicated when Bones and Zack cannot identify the cause of death, and suspicions over why it is with them in the first place mount... especially since it was thought to be in a British cemetery.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Woman at the Jeffersonian

"Don't you sometimes wish that there weren't so many bones around here?" Angela Montenegro, the Jeffersonian Institute's prime forensic artist, commented wistfully while observing anthropological student Zack Addy carefully taking x-ray scans of his latest subject.

Zack glanced at Angela sideways before turning back to the bones, cautious as ever around his work. "I do not understand, Angela. Isn't it a good thing that we are unlikely to run out of work primarily because of the large amount of unidentified remains archived at the Jeffersonian Institute?"

Angela grimaced, "Oh honey, I meant that it's such a shame that there are so many people here that had lives and family that will possibly never know what happened to them – just thinking about such a thing..."

"Angela, Zack?" Dr. Temperance Brennan stood at the stairs to their platform, a frown on her lips.

"Yes, Doctor Brennan?" Zack replied, missing Angela's guilty flinch at not noticing her friend's approach who did, in fact, know what it was like not knowing what happened to her family.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry..." Angela started to apologise, but was silenced by a stern look.

"What is your preliminary hypothesis as to the cause of death of unknown subject #852, Mr. Addy?" Brennan moved to stand beside her student, eyes fixed on the monitor that showed the enlarged results of Zack's scan.

"I have not studied the skeleton nearly enough to form an accurate hypothesis." Zack protested, frowning at his mentor.

"And I accept that." Brennan nodded, "But nonetheless I would like to know the results of your preliminary examination."

"Yes, tell us Zack." Angela encouraged, mildly exasperated at the two scientists for complicating such a simple conversation.

Zack glanced at Angela before turning back to the screen and frowning pensively. "The subject is female, early twenties and had given birth to a child within roughly one to two years before her death. From my initial examination, I assumed that death was caused by one of the many and exacerbated mutilating cuts on the subject's skeleton, but further examination has revealed that all disfigurement took place posthumously. Which brings me to the conclusion that... as of yet, I have found no cause of death from my examination."

"What?" Angela yelped, her eyes wide, and although hers was the most vocal exclamation, Brennan's similar disbelief showed though her expression. Zack, no matter his young age and relative inexperience, was unquestionably a genius and had never failed to identify a cause of death even in a preliminary examination before.

"So this woman was cut up after her death, but you haven't found out what killed her in the first place? And for that matter, why didn't we hear about such a bad case before now, you'd think we would have considering the state of her bones – isn't it our job to help find killers?" Angela clarified and demanded at the same time.

Neither of the scientists replied to her exclamation, and she was summarily ignored by both of them, as focused as they now were on the puzzle before them.

Brennan's mind raced as her eyes flitted over the pictures on the screen, before she turned towards the bones, her mind already turning towards deciphering this unexpected situation, her attention fully captured. "Zack, I want you to analyse the structure of the Interclavicular Ligaments, see if you can find any aberrations or indicative markings while I conduct a close examination. Angela, I'd like you to take the skull and construct a portrait, we may be able to use it to find living relatives in conjunction with a DNA analysis. Also, could you call for Dr. Hodgins – we will need him to analyse any remaining microorganisms."

Angela raised her eyebrows at her now fully-absorbed friend, before she rolled her eyes and carefully scooped up the skull. Sometimes, she just couldn't understand how engrossed the two anthropologists were able to become – and she was more than a little envious of their ability to disconnect themselves from the reality of the fact that they were looking at what had happened to a person – a living, breathing, loving person.

And then there were the times that she worried for them and their ability to do this.

"I'll get right on it." She assured rather pointlessly, before she moved away and into the quiet space of her office to do her job.

**

.13 Ө ₪ ℓ S.

**

"So what, you still haven't found out what killed her?"

"Well, we have worked on the subject extensively, and concluded that the forty-nine aberrations carved into the skeletal structure were indeed all administered posthumously. We have also, unfortunately, been unable to discern a cause of death." Brennan admitted to her assembled audience, consisting of Angela, Zack, and her colleagues that had since been involved in the case – Jack Hodgins and the Jeffersonian's director, Dr. Daniel Goodman. They were briefing FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth, who had been given the go ahead from his bosses to get involved in what was quickly becoming the strangest case that they had ever discovered – a woman, originally a Jane Doe that had been housed in the Jeffersonian archives of unidentified persons for almost twenty-five years, and had somehow been left alone – despite obvious mutilation – in all that time.

"That was a yes, right?" Booth qualified, looking beseechingly at the two people present that he could expect a relatively straight answer from.

Angela stepped in before Brennan could complicate matters, "Yes, they haven't found out what killed her." She said. "But we do have my amazing portrait of the woman, and I'm running a search through the FBI data base, although I have been able to narrow it down through her facial cues that she is of British decent, most likely nationality as well so I've narrowed the search with that." She indicated the sketch pad on the table, and Booth turned it around to see the woman.

At a glance, she was pretty, with high cheek bones and an impish line of her lips. "Have you at least found a place where I can start the investigation?"

"The body was found right here in Washington D.C." Hodgins gleefully cut in, apparently having been waiting for the question, "Caused quite a stir – see, it turned up only a few blocks away from the White House... which makes it all the more strange that no one has done anything with it until now – since when do they not investigate the hell out of anything suspicious at all anywhere near that neighbourhood? I bet you this is involved seriously in hard core cult activity – I mean, how else would everyone ignore a body that turns up like that? I just wonder how far the occultists managed to burrow their way into the government – I mean, how many people would have to be involved to pull something like this off? A total government -"

"Thank you, Dr. Hodgins." Goodman cut in, much experienced with the paranoid entomologists' aptitude for seeing conspiracy in every death that they investigated.

"I'm sorry, I know it's crazy, but I have to put it out there that I kinda agree with Hodgins on this one." Angela voiced, although she seemed surprised herself to be doing so, "there's something funky about this."

Booth stared at Angela's sketch grimly, turning over the facts that had been presented to him and not liking them at all. A nearby computer beeped, and the group flinched slightly at the blaring noise that cut through their collective rather morbid contemplations.

Angela sprang up and moved over to it, "We've got a match guys."

"And?" Booth demanded, craning his neck to see the flashing 'MATCH' blaring across the screen.

Angela tapped a few keys, minimising the message and bringing up a picture of a young woman that was a dead ringer for her own portrait, "Her name was Lily Potter."

**

.13 Ө ₪ ℓ S.

**

**Author's Note:**

> For those who read the ffnet version of this, I am not putting up chapter two here - the main reason I could not continue this story after that chapter was that it sucked, completely threw Harry out of his character and destroyed the seriousness I was aiming for in this fic - unfortunately, back then I couldn't have stuck to serious if I got someone to sit behind me and whack me with a stick everytime I wrote bad funnies into it. Now, hopefully age has matured me, so I want to give this fic the good old proper try. 
> 
> I'm (regrettably) leaving the other one up for the moment, if you want to read it (I'd rather you didn't) it's under the same title on ffnet.
> 
> 23/5 update: Okay, just adding this in: I have (finally) both gotten a tumblr and very recently actually started to use it. Follow me, badger me for updates, give me ideas, whatever - catch up to me at http://ailes-de-cire.tumblr.com/ --- I'll be looking forward to hearing from people :)


End file.
